Days 136-138: Back on the road

Days: 136-138  -   Date: 7-9JAN14  -   Itinerary: Pereira to Ipiales, CO  -   Miles: 441

Back on the road after 2 weeks off! I had a great time hanging out with my friend John and some new friends I made in Pereira. I was excited to get back on the road even if I felt a bit bittersweet about leaving. The plan for today was to stop by the National Coffee Park on my way South to Cali. However, shortly before arriving to the park it started to rain.. hum.. I kept on heading in that direction with determination but when I arrived it was jam packed! Tons of people here, which I found surprising since it was a Tuesday morning. I decided to skip on the coffee park till next time when I’m back in Colombia (since I will be back!).

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I didn’t take many photos my first day back on the road since it was mostly rainy and overcast.

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The Casa Blanca Hostel.. famous amongst ADV Riders passing through Cali

 After spending the night in Cali (which FYI- is the Salsa dancing capital of the world) I continued making tracks South. Really awesome mountain roads in Colombia!CO_08Jan14_005Around noon time I stopped for lunch at a restaurant along side the road. No more than 30 seconds after stopping, 2 more bikes pulled in behind me.

Hugo, me, Sarah, and Fabian (taking the photo).
Hugo, me, Sarah, and Fabian (taking the photo).

Hugo, riding a BMW G650X started in Santiago, Chile about a year ago and is doing a loop around South America. Fabian / Sarah are from Bogota, Colombia and are on their way South with a goal of making it to Ushuaia, Argentina (the same as me) but with a bit shorter time frame.

CO_08Jan14_003We grabbed lunch together, BSed a bit and then decided to ride together. We’re all going to same way, so why not 😎

CO_08Jan14_004We stopped for the night in Pasto and ended up going out for a few drinks at a local lounge/bar. Hugo and I ended up hanging out with some local Pastusa girls who took us out to show us around the city and then out dancing; Colombian style.

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The next day we had a late start to the day since Fabian needed to have some work done on his bike at the moto shop in town.. it’s a good thing too since I think we were all nursing a bit of a hangover.

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Google Maps car!

It wasn’t far to the Ecuador border but since we didn’t leave Pasto till around 2pm we only ended up riding about 60 miles. We hit rain 2-3 times today 😡 The past 2 days have had more rain than I’ve had all trip!

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We stopped at the Las Lajas Sanctuary which is a cool church that is built in a canyon over a river. CO_09Jan14_002 CO_09Jan14_003

Tomorrow it’s into Ecuador; country # 12!

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